Three grains of rice (Lengthy but a good read) As I completed my meal this evening I did notice there was just three grains of rice left on my decorative dinner dish and as usual the did put my mind in a whirl of thought and reflection. First was the thoughts of the rice, just the three grains of rice I could just leave them; well then I remembered something of my childhood when I lived on the Island of Okinawa where, it’s frowned on to waste even a single solitary grain of rice, because that would dishonor the farmers, who have to spend many, many hours a day in the difficult task of maintenance and harvesting of rice. Watch any old samurai movie and you’ll see how rice is treated as sacred by farmers, raiders and Yoroiden Samurai Troopers alike, then came the type of rice that was the those three grains, that too wrapped me in curiosity ; There are different types of rice to consider: paddy rice, deep-water rice, rain-fed lowland rice and upland rice. Paddy rice growth is controlled by the farmer, whereas deep-water rice grows near river and other water banks and depends largely on the weather. Lowland rice thrives in monsoonal regions where ridges are built into the land in order to retain water after the rain. Upland rice is grown in areas of frequent rain on slopes. Then there was the thoughts of growing and cultivating of those three grains of rice. Rice production requires space and soil, which might account for why those farmers held the land so sacred in those old movies….Yet ask yourselves where would life be without rice? Secondly those three grains of rice brought to mind the number three. The third, the tri, the triad, triple, a structure of strength…….. Three is a valued number in the fact that it is a prime number it is a number that cannot be divided by a number other than 1 and itself. It is the third of a set…. Three denotes Trinity, diversity, creativity, growth, forward-looking movement that transcends the duality, synthesis (1 + 2, the Male and Female). Three is the triad. The power of three is universal and is the tripartite nature of the world: heaven, earth and water. It is the human body, mind and spirit - birth, life and death - beginning, middle, end - past, present and future. Not to mention the three phases of the moon. What would life be without three? Lastly for the Spirituality of the scene .......I researched these facts up to share and the number 3 is used 467 times in the Bible. It pictures completeness, though to a lesser degree than 7. The meaning of this number derives from the fact that it is the first of four spiritually perfect numerals (the others being 7, 10 and 12). The 3 righteous patriarchs before the flood were Abel, Enoch and Noah. After the deluge there was the righteous fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (later renamed Israel). There are 27 books in the New Testament, which is 3x3x3, or completeness to the third power. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. He was placed on the cross at the 3rd hour of the day (9 a.m.) and died at the 9th hour (3 p.m.). There were 3 hours of darkness that covered the land while Jesus was suffering on the cross from the 6th hour to the 9th hour. Three is the number of resurrection. Christ was dead for three full days and three full nights, a total of 72 hours, before being resurrected on Saturday, April 8, just before sunset. There were only three individuals who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration on Mount Hermon. Those who saw Jesus glory on the mount were John, Peter and James. The apostle Paul was an exceptionally well educated person. In three different occasions he quotes directly from Greek poets (Acts 17:28, 1Corinthians 15:33 and Titus 1:12). He also was privileged to visit the location of Gods throne, which is in the third heaven (2Corinthians 12:2 - 4). The three words that appear only once in Scripture are Reverend (Psalms 111:9), Eternity (Isaiah 57:15) and Grandmother (2Timothy 1:5). Only three people were allowed to ask God ANYTHING. They were Solomon (1Kings 3:5), Ahaz (Isaiah 7:11) and, of course, Jesus Christ (Psalm 2:9). The three gifts given to Israel by God were his law, the land of their inheritance, and their calling (the world to come). The Bible only mentions the name of three angels (Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer). Next to seven, 3 is the most commonly found or referenced number in Revelation. An angel is charged to cry three woes to those who live on earth to warn them of more trials to come (Revelation 8:13). The murdered bodies of the Two Witnesses will not be allowed to be buried but rather will lie openly in Jerusalem for three days before they are resurrected. Three unclean spirits will be allowed to deceive the whole world to FIGHT the returning Jesus Christ in what is called the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:13 - 16). The new Jerusalem, created by God for placement on a new earth, will be shaped like a square with three gates on each side (Revelation 21:13). God is described, in the very beginning of the book of Revelation, as a Being which is, and which was, and which is to come (Revelation 1:4). There are 3 great periods of Gods annual Feast days of worship. They are the Spring festivals (Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread), the summer festival (Pentecost) and the Fall festivals (Feast of Trumpets, Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles).* So needless to say the leaving of those tiny Three Grains of Rice upon my dinner dish was entirely too much to leave on such a small dish so I once again said Grace and finished my meal with gratitude knowing that there is never anything so small as to not have a greater meaning…………..The truth is Life……… bh * biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/3.html
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 02:41:38 +0000
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